By George - a right royal welcome

BY George - they're finally here!

Large crowds are expected to give the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prince George, a right royal welcome when they arrive in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon to kick off their highly anticipated tour of Australia.

After being met at the airport by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the trio will be whisked away to the Sydney Opera House for a right royal tour and a reception, to be hosted by NSW Governor Marie Bashir and Premier Barry O'Farrell.

It's expected about 400 guests will attend the reception, including former Australian cricket fast bowler Glenn McGrath and Australian Women's Cricket Team member Ellyse Perry, along with children dressed to represent all nations competing in the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

The royals are expected to meet and greet members of the public before being taken by police boat to Admiralty House where they will be hosted by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove.

On Thursday, the Duke and Duchess will visit communities in the Blue Mountains hit by bushfires with plans to drop in to the Royal Easter Show on Friday.

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Call for more money for Vic mine clean-up

COMMUNITY groups want a $90 million fund for new brown coal technology in Victoria's Latrobe Valley to be instead used to pay for the Hazelwood coalmine fire clean-up.

The Voices of the Valley spokesman Simon Ellis said $2 million in support announced by the Victorian government had already been spent, but the clean-up was not close to being finished.

The federal and Victorian governments each pledged $45 million to the Advanced Lignite Demonstration Program back in 2012, to entice companies to develop ways to use brown coal from the valley more profitably with reduced emissions.

"It would be an insult to Latrobe Valley residents if the state and federal government's first significant response to the Hazelwood fire was to find new coal mines and technologies," Mr Ellis said.

He said the priority should be to clean up Morwell homes and prevent any further fires at the Hazelwood mine.

At Wednesday's Hazelwood mine inquiry community consultation session in Traralgon, The Voices of the Valley will deliver hundreds of affidavits, survey responses, photos and videos collected from residents to help the inquiry with its investigation into how the fire unfolded.

The fire ignited when bushfires spread to a disused section of the mine on February 9 and burned for 45 days, shrouding nearby communities in smoke and forcing some residents to leave Morwell.

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